1. AUTHORITIES BELIEVE TSARNAEVS WERE PLANNING ANOTHER ATTACK
As federal prosecutors prepare charges against the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, authorities say they believe Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were preparing to carry out more attacks when their plans were disrupted. "We have reason to believe, based upon the evidence that was found at the scene — the explosions, the explosive ordinance that was unexploded, and the firepower — that they were going to attack other individuals," Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said Sunday on Face the Nation. He did not say whether investigators had identified a specific target. [CNN]
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2. BOMBING SUSPECT STILL UNABLE TO SPEAK
One week after the Boston Marathon bombings, suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev remains in critical but stable condition with a gunshot wound to the neck, according to Boston police. Federal and local officials are unsure if he will be able to talk again, which may prevent any questioning of his motives. "We don't know if we'll ever be able to question the individual," Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said. According to the most recent reports, Tsarnaev is drifting in and out of consciousness. The full extent of Tsarnaev's injuries, and whether he sustained them in a gun battle with police more than 12 hours before his capture Friday evening, remains unclear. Tsarnaev is under heavy guard at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Meanwhile, London held its annual marathon on Sunday amid extra tight security. Runners observed a moment of silence in honor of those killed in the Boston Marathon bombings last week. Many also wore black ribbons to commemorate honor those killed and wounded. [Washington Post, NPR]
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3. MISSISSIPPI RIVER FLOODS IN SIX MIDWEST STATES
Communities in six states along the upper Mississippi River and its tributaries are suffering the effects of heavy rains and melting snow that threaten to keep rivers at uncomfortably high levels this week. The U.S. Coast Guard said surging waters had caused 114 barges to break loose just south of St. Louis on Saturday night, prompting a shutdown of a 15-mile stretch of the Mississippi. Officials said they will close a 3½-mile stretch of the Illinois River to boat traffic on Monday due to high water. Travel was restricted on Sunday. Two deaths in Indiana and one in Missouri last week were blamed on flash flooding. [Wall Street Journal]
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4. SECOND MAN ARRESTED IN INDIAN CHILD RAPE CASE
Indian authorities announced the arrest of a second suspect in the alleged abduction, rape, and attempted murder of a 5-year-old girl, who went missing April 15. The suspect, Pradeep Kumar, was arrested Monday roughly 620 miles from New Delhi. His arrest came following the questioning of the other suspect arrested in the case, a man named Manoj Kumar. The two are not related. The attack has shocked India and stirred memories of a gang rape and murder of a medical student in December. Hospital officials said Monday that the child's condition was improving. The case prompted angry protests over the weekend in India. [New York Times]
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5. HAGEL FINALIZES MIDDLE EAST ARMS DEAL
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel arrived in Israel on Sunday to put the finishing touches on a complicated $10 billion arms deal with three Middle Eastern countries, saying the pact sends "a very clear signal" to Iran. Under preliminary terms of the agreement, the U.S. would sell tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey aircraft — which can take off like a helicopter but cruise at airplane speed — to Israel. It would be the first time the Pentagon has approved a foreign sale of the Osprey, which can carry combat troops and is prized for its maneuverability. The U.S. would also provide Israel with KC-135 refueling planes, which could extend the range of Israeli fighters and bombers so that they could be used for an attack on a country such as Iran. The details of the arms deal come after Republican concerns that Hagel would be too soft on Iran. [Washington Post]
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6. SYRIAN GOVERNMENT TROOPS SEIZE TOWN NEAR DAMASCUS
Syrian government troops seized a town near Damascus on Sunday, killing at least 80 people, including women and children, opposition activists say. The army stormed the town of Jdaidet al-Fadl after five days of heavy fighting. Syria's Sana state news agency said government forces "inflicted heavy losses upon terrorists" in the town. This latest round of killings comes as the army tries to break a ring of rebel-held areas around Damascus. [BBC]
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7. FIVE DEAD IN SEATTLE-AREA APARTMENT SHOOTOUT
Five people were killed in a shooting at an apartment complex in the Washington state city of Federal Way, about 20 miles south of Seattle. Police officers arriving on the scene shot a suspect, who has died. According to The Associated Press, the officers responded to an emergency call around 9:30 p.m. Sunday local time where they found two injured men on the ground in the parking lot of the apartment complex. "When we arrived, there was a lot of gunfire already being fired," said Federal Way police spokeswoman Cathy Schrock. [USA Today]
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8. BIRD FLU CLAIMS TWO MORE LIVES IN CHINA
Two more people have died from a new strain of avian influenza, bringing the number of deaths from the H7N9 virus to 20. Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization of six new cases, bringing the total to 102. Of those, 70 are still hospitalized and 12 have been discharged. "Until the source of infection has been identified, it is expected that there will be further cases of human infection with the virus in China," the WHO said in a statement. The WHO's China representative, Michael O'Leary, issued data on Friday showing that half of the patients analyzed had had no known contact with poultry, the most obvious potential source, but he said it appeared human-to-human transmission was rare. [Reuters]
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9. EDINBURGH ZOO ARTIFICIALLY INSEMINATES PANDA
The Edinburgh Zoo in Britain carried out artificial insemination on a female giant panda to increase her chances of getting pregnant. Scientists who were monitoring the zoo's pair of pandas noticed that Tian Tian, the female, was showing signs that weren't "conducive to mating." Officials said Tian Tian was artificially inseminated early Sunday and she was doing well, though both pandas will be taken off display until Tuesday. [Huffington Post]
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10. REESE WITHERSPOON AND HUSBAND ARRESTED AND JAILED
Reese Witherspoon and her husband, CAA agent Jim Toth, were arrested and briefly jailed in Atlanta this weekend after Toth was pulled over under suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Toth is facing a DUI charge after driving in the wrong lane, and Witherspoon was also arrested on a disorderly conduct charge, according to a police report obtained by Variety. She was handcuffed after disobeying repeated instruction from the arresting officer, with whom she verbally sparred, to stay inside the vehicle. The couple was released on bond at approximately 3:30 a.m. ET on Friday; Witherspoon appeared on the red carpet in Atlanta for her new movie Mud Sunday night without comment on the incident. [Variety]
The hunt for Planet Nine
Magazine interactive crossword - April 26, 2024
Magazine solutions - April 26, 2024
